 In February 2002 i4free sued Telecom New Zealand for $18,162,342, claiming Telecom's June 1999 decision to force internet users to dial a "0867" prefix had severely limited growth of the company, delaying the launch of the service by nine months.Telecom settled out of court in 2005 after a long-running battle.She stated the result "was enough to remove the grimace from my face, but not to have me breaking into laughter."